Ball-rolling apparatus



F. M. CANDA.

BALL ROLLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.27| 1919.

Patented June 13, 1922.

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F. M. C'ANDA.

BALL ROLLING: APPARATUS.

APPLlGATlON FILED Aus.27. 1919.

Patnted June 13, 1922.

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APPLICATION FILED AUG-27. 1919.

Patented June 13, 1.922.

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ATTORNEY.

F. M. CAND/I. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA S.

I APPLICATION FILED AUG.27, I9I9- 1,419,817, PatentedJune 13, 1922.

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F. M. CANDA.

BALL ROLLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.27. 1919.

Patented June 13, 1922.

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ATTORNEY.

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being helically grooved,

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BALL-ROLLING APPARATUS.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Pate t d J 13 19 Application filed Auust 27, 1919. Serial No. 320,174.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FnnniNANi) l\/I()RA CANnA, a citizen ofthe UnitedStates of America, and a resident of New lork, in the county of New Yorkand State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Ball-Rolling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for forming balls, and is particularlyintended for forming, from wrought iron or steel, balls adapted to beused in crusher mills and the like, but is also adapted and intended forforming balls of various other materials and for other uses,-forexample, lead shrapnel bullets, lead shot, glass balls of various typesand uses, and even balls of non-metallic materials, such as pills usedin medical practice, confectionery articles, etc. More particularly,however, I contemplate use of apparatus embodying my invention forforming from steel, particularly hard steel, balls of relatively largediameter particularly intended for'use as crusher balls, since at thepresent time large diameter crusher balls are made by a process,relatively expensive as compared with rolling operations, and involvingthe use of presses or hammers.- In mentioning the above, however, I donot intend to suggest that I do not also contemplate the use ofapparatus embodying my invention for making balls of smaller size, formy apparatus is adapted for making small balls as well as large balls.

In the machine herein described two annularly related rolling membersare used, one of these members, usually the inner one,

(though, as explained hereafter, the outer member may be helicallygrooved and the inner member ungrooved, or one may have a helical grooveand the other a straight groove), and the material to be formed intoballs is introduced into the space between these members, one of whichrotates with respect to the other, and by the action of said grooves(or, to be more precise, by the'action of the ribs between which thegrooves are) the said material is not only drawn along between saidmembers in a generally axial direction, but which finally issue frombetween said members. Owing to ,the fact that the helical groove orgrooves of the apparatus may have any desired number of turns, and anydesired pitch, the rate of reduction of the material acted on, i. e.,its change of shape, may be slow or quick, as desired, and may be morerapid in one portion of the apparatus than in another, if desired; andthis without variation in the diameter of the apparatus; also, and forsimilar reasons, the character of the treat-' ment to which the materialacted on is subjected may be varied greatly, as may be desirable in thetreatment of various materials.

I may say at this point that while my apparatus is particularly intendedfor the production of articles of generally spherical form, yet it isobviously adapted for the production of articles of other forms butgenerally of the nature of objects of rotation; for example, ellipsoids;and such objects I include within the general term balls.

I will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which various forms of apparatus embodying myinvention are illustrated, and will then point out the novel features inclaims. In the said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure 2an end elevation of my apparatus, in elemental form; Figures 3, 4, 5 and6 are elevations of the two rolling members in various alternativestructural forms, the outer rolling member being shown in centrallongitudinal section; Figure 7 shows an end view of the Figure 6arrangement; Figure 7 is an end elevation of amodified form of thearrangement of Figures 6 and 7 Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 6,illustrating an alternative construct-ion; Figures 9, 10, and 11 areother views similar to Figures 3, 4

and 5, but illustrating further alternative constructions; Figure 12 isa fragmentary end elevation of the construction shown in Figure 11;Figure 13 is a view similar to Figures 3, 4 and 5, except that a plainstationary mandrel and a grooved rotatable shell are shown; Figure 14 isa view similar to Figures 3, 4 and 5, except that the parts are shownwith their axes vertical instead of horizontal; Figure 15 is anelevation of complete ball rolling apparatus including driving means,yielding pressure means employed in connection with a shell composed ofseparable segments, and means for holding the material to be worked intoballs, while it is being fed into the ball forming apparatusa certaindelivery chute being shown in section; Figure 16 is an end elevation andpartial section of the ball rolling apparatus of Figure 15, illustratingthe segmental construction of the shell and the connection of theyielding pressure means there with; Figure 17 is a. fragmentary sideelevation of ball forming apparatus provided with an alternative form ofwork holding means; and Figure 18 is a transverse section on the line1818 of Figure 17.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2: 1 designates a suitable housing,adapted to contain a suitable shell 2, the latter constituting one ofthe ball rolling members, as hereinafter described, and 3 designates theother ball rollingmember, being a mandrel mounted for rotation in abearing pedestal 4, and arranged to be driven by any suitable means, asfor example a gear wheel 5. will be pointed out more fully hereafter, it

is immaterial whether shell 2 or mandrel 3 .rotate, and in fact, bothmay rotate; .What

is important is, that the one rotate with respect to the other; and solong as this is the case, they may even rotate in the some direction,though at different rotative speeds. At least one of the twoball-rolling members, 2 and 3, is commonly helically grooved, and in thedrawings I illustrate various forms of shells and mandrels.

In Figure 3 I show one such combination of shell and mandrel. It is tobe understood, with reference to this and similar succeeding views, thatthe shell and mandrel shown are adapted for use in the structure shownin Figures 1 and 2. In Figure 3, 2" designates a shell of cylindricalcontour internally, and 3 a taper mandrel, helically larger end. Inrolling balls with this ap-. paratus, the material to be rolled,preferably grooved, the helical groove starting with a nearly flatcontour near the smaller end of the mandrel, and gradually merging intoan approximately semi-circular contour at its in the form of a. roundbar, is introduced between the shell and mandrel at that end at whichthe clearance between said members is greatest, i. e., at the right-handend, in Figure 3, and such material, as so introduced, is engaged by thehelical rib or thread 6 of the rotating mandrel, and thereby the saidmaterial acted upon is gradually drawn into the space between themandrel and shell, and is gradually grooved, while being rotated betweenthe mandrel and shell, so that said material is eventually divided,progressively, into a series of balls, which issue at the enlargedgroove, 7 at the left-hand end of the apparatus. so formed will be ofnearly perfect spherical contour; but for many purposes, as forexample,. balls intended for use in crusher mills, it is immaterialwhether the balls be of nearly perfect form, and in particular it isimmaterial whether the balls have someframe 2 In general, the balls whatrough or'imperfect surfaces near the axes about which they have beenturned in the process of rolling; and indeed, it is 1mmaterial if theballs be not completely severed fromone another as they issue into the.

tract, and such contraction may be obtained by employing a taperedmandrel and a cylindrical shell, as indicated 1n Figure 3, or

by employing a mandrel and shell both of which are tapered, as indicatedin Figure 4, wherein 2" and 3 designate the shell and mandrelrespectively. Some materials acted upon are not only deformable but alsomore or less compressible, while other materials are deformable butpractically incompressible; for which reason it may be necessary to usea mandrel and a shell such as shown in Figure 5, wherein both shell andmandrel, here designated by numerals 2 and 3 respectively, are taperedin the same sense. The important thing is, thatsuflicient material betaken in by the first turn of'the thread of the mandrel to insuresubstantial filling. of the final groove of the mandrel without overplusof material, bearing in mind the degree of compressibility of thematerial; and the intelligent designer, having knowledge of thequalities of the material to be rolled, will readily design the shelland mandrel to accomplish this end.

In Figures 3, 4 and 5 the working surface of the shell is not grooved,and in such apparatus 'the material acted upon will in general have aplanetary rotation about the axis of the mandrel and shell (which twomembers have, in general, the same axis) in addition to rotation aboutits own axis. But if preferred the shell may itself have a groove8,(Figure 7-) parallel to the axes of the mandrel and shell, whereby'theplanetary rotation of the material acted'upon is prevented; and in suchcase, it maybe convenient to provide in this groove 8 antifrictionrollers 9, to facilitate rolling of the material acted on. In suchacase, the two rollers 9 become in fact one single rolling member,complementary to the grooved mandrel, and the shell (2 becomes a mereframe for the support of the rollers; consequently, and as indicated inFigure 7 a mandrel, so that a plurality of rods to be converted intoballs, may be in process of may be substituted for the shell.-

plurality of .rollers 9, may be provided about a single eter of thefinished balls.

having ribs throughout,

.tical instead of horizontal.

be inclined in either direction, according to circumstances.

The apparatus shown in Figures 3 to 8 inclusivework into ball formmaterial having an initial diameter slightly less than that of thefinished balls. In Figures9 to 12 inclusive I .show apparatus adapted toproduce balls from rods having, initially, a diameter slightly greaterthan that of the finished balls. This, of course, involves the initialgrooving of the rods to a width between grooves somewhat less than thediam- Figure 9 illustrates one such apparatus, the mandrel, 3, 6 whichare of the same pitch but are broad in the initial portion of themandrel but grow progressively narrower, the groove between them growingprogressively w1der,

in accordance wlth the progressively increasing breadth of the partlyformed balls. The contour of the groove is such as to tend to force thematerial at the sides of the partly formed balls up toward the sides andcenter thereof. In Figure 10 another such apparatus is shown, the ribs,6 being of the same breadth throughout, but of progressively increasingpitch, so that the groove between the ribs grows progressively wider, asin Figure 9. The arrangement shown in Figures 11 and 12 is similar tothat of Figure 10, except that the initial turn, 6, is separated from 1the other turns of the rib 6 and is radially perpendicular to the axisof the mandrel and formed as a cutter, which will completely sever therod, as introduced, into separate cylinders, which thereafter willprogress separately through the machine, being formed into balls,however, in the same manner as if-they were connected. I

As indicated in Figure 13, the mandrel,

here designated as 3 may be stationary and plain-surfaced, and theshell, here designated as 2 may rotate and may be grooved helically; 4designating bearings for the rotating housingl of this form of theapparatus, and 5 designating gear teeth provided on the housing wherebythe shell may be rotated. This form of apparatus is of course the mereconverse of that shown in Figure 3. As-indicated in Figure 14, the axesof the mandrel and shell may be ver- This form of apparatus isparticularly well adapted to work on material in the form of blocksalready cut to lengths proper for forming balls individually. Obviouslythe various alternashell (including the tive features of structurehereinbefore illustated may be employed in vertical apparatus as inhorizontal apparatus.

It will furthermore be understood that in any of the constructionsillustrated, the surface of the mandrel, or the surface of the surfacesof the rolls 9 and 7*), or both, may be roughened, as by knurling or thelike, to improve the driving qualities of the apparatus with respect tothe material being worked. This is a common rolling expedient. In Fig.6, I have indicated that the mandrel and in Figures 7 rolls areroughened in this manner.

Since in most of the forms of apparatus shown 'the rods from which theballs are formed have a planetary motion during their progress throughthe apparatus, it is desirable, particularlywhen the bars are of largediameter, to provide means for supporting the bars in such manner thatthey will follow this planetary motion, in whole or in part, priortotheir entry into the ballmaking apparatus proper. Figure 15illustrates one such apparatus. Two vertical rods, 10, provided withroller carrying hooks 11 at their lower ends, are mounted on crank-pinsof cranks 12 and 13, cranks 13 being on a shaft'14 driven by suitablegearing 15, a vertical shaft 16, and other ing 17 from the main drivinggear '5. 10 are cross-connected, for stiffness, by a suitable frame 18.19 designates the rod being fed into the machine. It will be apparentthat the hooks 11 have a circular motion corresponding to the planetarymotion of the rod 19., The gearing 15 and 17 .will be proportioned, indesign, to impart motion to hooks 11 at the pro er rate.

Figures 17 and 18 i1 ustrate an alternative means for the same purpose.mounted loosely on an extension of the mandrel 3,- and is provided withgear teeth whereby it may be rotated by driving means 21 at a suitablerate. In this disk 20 is an aperture 22 through which the rod 19 to befed into the ball forming machine may pass. A strut 23 is provided witha similar aperture, which, however,-is coaxial, or substantially so,with the mandrel 3. The rod A disk 20 is 19, being hot and thereforeflexible, will readily pass from 'the axial aperture in strut 23 to theeccentric aperture 22.

Figure 16 also illustrates that the shell 1 I of the ball-formingapparatus may be formed in separate and separable segments 2 movableradially outward, but normally pressed inward by yielding pressuremeans, such as are employed for pressing together the rolls of ordinaryrolling mills; forexample, rams 24 of hydraulic cylinders 25.

This construction, which is of course applicable to the shells of anyofthe'various types of ball-making apparatus previously illustrated anddescribed, permits yielding I as to put exceptional stress on the appaincase the material being worked is" so hard ratus; it also permitsregulation of the pressure exerted-on the material, just as does deviceof an ordinary rollvided with means for drawing the matedirectionbetween said members duce such material to ball form.

rial acted on in a generally axial direc-v tion between said members,one of said members being provided with means for reducing the materialacted upon to ball form. v

2. In a ball rolling apparatus, the combination of two rolling membersannularly related relatively, both members being fixed against axialmovement, one of said members mounted for rotation with respect to theother, and one of said members provided with helical grooves adapted todraw the material acted. on in a generally. axial 3. In a ball rollingapparatus, the combination ofa mandrel and a shell completely envelopingsaid mandrel circumferentially, both mandrel and ,shell being .fixedagainst axial movement, ,0116 of said members mounted for rotation withrespect to the other, one of. said members being provided with means.for drawing the material acted on in a generally axial direction betweenisaid'members, and one of said members being provided with means forreducing the materialaacted upon to ball form.

'4. In a ball rolling apparatus, the combination of a mandrel anda'shell completely enveloping said mandrel circumferentially, bothmandrel and shell being fixed against axial movement, one of saidmembers mounted for rotation with respect to the other, and one of saidmembers provided with helical grooves adaptedto draw the material actedupon in a generally axial direction between said members andto reducesuch material to ball form. 5. In a ball rolling apparatus,thecombination of two rolling members annularly related relatively, bothmembers being fixed against axial movement, one of said members mountedfor rotation, with respect to the other, and one of said membersprovided with a helical groove, the said members adapted by reason oftheir relative roand to retatability todrawbetween them, in a generallyaxial direction, material to be acted upon, and to formQsuch materialinto general ball-shape.

6. In a ball rolling apparatus, the4zombination of two rolling membersannularly related relatively, both membersbeing fixed against axialmovement, one of said mem'- bers mounted for rotation with respect to.pro-. vided with a helical groove the profile of the other, and one ofsaid members which varies progressively from an initial form adapted forthe reception of the material to be acted upon to' a form corre spondingto that of the finished article.

7. In a ball rolling apparatus, the combination of two rolling membersannularly related relatively, one of said members mounted for rotationwith respect to the other, one of said members provided, on its faceadjacent to the other said member, with a helical groove, and one ofsaid members tapered on its face adjacent to the other said member.

8. In a ball rolling apparatus, the com bination of two rolling membersannularly related relatively both members being fixed against axialmovement, one of'said' members mounted. for rotation with respect to theother, said members being provided, on their adjacent faces, withball-forming grooves, one of which is helical,

9. In a ball rolling apparatus, the combination of two rolling members,one of which is rotatably mounted with respect to the other, one of saidmembers comprising a helical ball-forming groove and the other of saidmembers comprising a plurality of rotatable rollers together forming acoacting groove. I

10. In a ball rolling apparatus, the combination of a rolling memberhaving a helical ball-forming groove, and complementary helical rib, thewidth of said groove varying progressively, the initial portion of saidrib being sharp and constituting a cutter to sever the material actedon. into sep-' arate blocks, and means for holding material to be actedon in said groove.

'11. In a ball rolling apparatus, the combination with ball-rollingmeans adapted to impart a planetary motion to the material acted onwhile drawingit in and forming it into balls, of supporting and guidingmeans for the material acted on arranged to follow such planetarymotion.

12.. In a ball rolling apparatus, the combination with ball-rollin meansadapted to impart a planetary motion to the material acted on whiledrawing it in and forming it into balls, of supporting and guiding meansfor the material acted on .arranged,to fol f I low such planetarymotion, and means for bination of a plurality of coasting ballrollingmembers, one of which is formed in a plurality of similar segments, andyielding pressure means tending to force said segments toward another ofsaid members. 14. In a ball rolling'apparatus, the combination of amandrel and a shell annularly related, said shell being formed in aplurality of similar segments, and yielding pressure means tending toforce said seg- 10

